Stephen King used this phrase to reference the downfall of a kingdom-the Camelot of his world- being the JFK assassination. Borrowing from the King, I feel akin to the faceless politician, who yearns in his youth for a better world, devoid of the ruling corporations and Party's and soft money and lobbyists, who wants to make the cliched "difference".; who struggles to gain a position sufficient with power allowing for such change; yet in striving to attain the seat, he must compromise his ethics along the way, makes deals and compromises to get mention, sponsored, nominated. As he reaches his summit, he surrenders the reason, the impetus that drove him; and now, he cannot cannot change the world; fore the world, in an act of self-preservation, defends itself. Thus, a new puppet is made.
And so, I prepare to return to school. To listen to lectures. To grunt answers for the lower classes. I fear my research will never be realized. I fear it will become, at its apex, like Paul's speech on Mars Hill at the Temple of the unknown God: though eloquent, it moved the Stoics not. My work is one of reformation. Or perhaps restoration...
We need better teachers!- is the cry. Then, I say: FIX THE MACHINE.
Modeling, grouping, hands-on activities, tactile learning, dynamic instruction: none of these were part of the math classroom of the past.
And yet, people learned it. all around the country, the educational world screams, yowls of the need for it. And they do it all whilst lecturing. How hypocritical of them! to publish findings not to be used in the higher systems.
Were it true, were it relevant, and were it in fact integratable, I posit that every generation of teacher would become, as it were like each new model of computer: better equipped, faster, easier to adapt, more prepared than any educators in the field save the bravest who pioneer these idea's. instead what do we get?
The teachers bray for better pay. Yet I would sacrifice 5 years of pay raises for students who would come to school:
And yet, people learned it. all around the country, the educational world screams, yowls of the need for it. And they do it all whilst lecturing. How hypocritical of them! to publish findings not to be used in the higher systems.
Were it true, were it relevant, and were it in fact integratable, I posit that every generation of teacher would become, as it were like each new model of computer: better equipped, faster, easier to adapt, more prepared than any educators in the field save the bravest who pioneer these idea's. instead what do we get?
| Scared, timid people, untrained, malnourished in the ways of people, most completely unprepared for disciplining and coaching. And what do they get? Pupils who come under-educated, severely objectified, undisciplined, frustrated, and lacking any kind of academic confidence that they can perform the tasks that have been, and will be set before them. |  |
The teachers bray for better pay. Yet I would sacrifice 5 years of pay raises for students who would come to school:
- Nourished
- Proved to be On-level
- Trained to follow instruction
- Held responsible for their own education
I would stay after the clock to create for such youngsters projects that were meaningful to their lives, work with companies to employ their math skills through the school, publish and blog with these students articles about best practices, gifted teachers to feature. But our new teachers aren't given these tools of creativity. And they need them years before they hit their first classroom. They need OJT [on-the-job Training] through internships, mentorings, tutoring, from Year 2 on. They need challenges for when they leave for the summer, teams to collaborate with, projects to test with experienced teachers, who can critique and add and publish with them their new idea's in real-time, and then use them in their own classrooms. Why isn't this happening nation-wide? It will cost little more than coffee's and breakfasts, a host of universities [who are bored in the summertime most places], and some leg-work. It could be done. It must be done.
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